Hog wild about coaching

David Haugh, Tribune staff reporterCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Dressed casually in a dark sweater and slacks, Russ Grimm felt as comfortable as he looked Monday gripping the podium at Halas Hall. Grimm was talking football, the nuts and bolts of football, just as he did all day during his interview with Bears general manager Jerry Angelo, team President Ted Phillips and Chairman Michael McCaskey.

There were no coy conversations about contract demands, no implied power struggles over personnel control or hiring assistant coaches. The purpose of Grimm's presence on the list of finalists for the Bears' coaching job was as simple and straightforward as he appeared.

"I want to coach football," Grimm said. "I know what it takes to put a winning football team on the football field. I know what it takes to win games. I know what beating Green Bay means to this franchise. I know what winning division games means to this franchise."

Grimm, an All-Pro offensive lineman for the Washington Redskins of the 1980s, is the Pittsburgh Steelers' line coach. In a 20-minute news conference intended to measure candidates' savvy with the Chicago media, it was hard to tell if his last name was Grimm or Grabowski. Grimm spoke freely and used plain English, promised nothing but an honest day's work and reduced the complexities of the NFL to basic blocking and tackling.

Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, the other known finalist, will get his chance at the microphone Tuesday during his second interview. Bears defensive coordinator Greg Blache will talk to Angelo about the job before heading to Pittsburgh Wednesday to interview for the Steelers' vacant defensive coordinator position. Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Nolan withdrew from consideration Sunday after Angelo postponed two interviews.

Another unknown candidate from the college ranks still remains a possibility for the Bears after LSU's Nick Saban and California's Jeff Tedford pulled out of consideration Saturday before any official job offers had been extended.

Grimm said no offer had been made to him on Monday. Money, he added, "was the furthest thing from my mind." He clearly enjoyed just being in the mix after the Bears "shocked" him Friday by calling him after requesting permission from the Steelers.

With slicked-back hair and a thick mustache, Grimm, 44, could have passed for a Mike Ditka impersonator had he been smoking a cigar. If he were wearing a Philadelphia Eagles hat, he would have resembled coach Andy Reid.

"I'm a blue-collar guy, I'm meat and potatoes," Grimm said. "I don't have an agent, I don't send fliers around the league saying I want to be a head coach. . . . If you're good enough at something, then people are going to find you."

The Bears found Grimm with the help of their director of pro personnel, Bobby DePaul, who coached on the same Redskins staff with Grimm for two seasons in the early 1990s. Angelo also had been aware of a guy whose leadership qualities consistently were mentioned by league executives and coaches during the exhaustive research the Bears did on their field of candidates.

Sources indicated that during his interview Grimm connected with team officials as well as he did with the media, which bodes well for the former Redskins "Hog" who said all the right things.

"There are certain teams in this league that I would not fit in as a head coach or be interested in as a head coach, [but] the Chicago Bears are not one of them," Grimm said. "The Chicago Bears are built on the type of pride and type of character and style of football that I think these fans appreciate, that knowledgeable football fans appreciate. Hopefully that's something I could be a part of."

He said his offensive philosophy has passing-game roots in the Don Coryell-Joe Gibbs system blended with a running game in the smash-mouth, Pittsburgh Steelers mold. A league source said Grimm already has mentioned Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements as a possible offensive coordinator. Clements, a star Notre Dame quarterback in the 1970s, has interviewed in the past for offensive coordinator jobs with San Diego and Buffalo and turned down Jacksonville's job offer in 2002.

"It'll be a style of offense that I'm familiar with, hopefully be somebody I have worked with or somebody who has run that style or system and I'm comfortable working with," Grimm said. "Who that is? I have to get here first before that person can get here."

Grimm got into coaching with the Redskins in 1992 after winning three Super Bowls in an 11-year playing career. He said it was a more appealing alternative than digging ditches or working in the steel mill.

A high school quarterback in Scottdale, Pa., Grimm quickly adopted a lineman's mentality at the University of Pittsburgh, and it's still evident in his coaching.

He once had a Steelers lineman remove his helmet before a play so he would stop leading with his head on a block. He has said he knows when to "pat 'em on the butt or grab 'em by the throat" to motivate a player. He has a policy with the Steelers that every offensive-line meeting must include a joke.

He could not be a more serious candidate for the Bears.

"I think you have to be a leader to be a head coach, that's the biggest thing," Grimm said. "I've never been through this before. I don't know what to say. Do I think I can coach football and win games? Yes. Should the Chicago Bears be back on top of the NFC North? Yes. Can we get there? Yes."

Asked whether that meant he should be the Bears' next coach, Grimm didn't flinch.

"I think so," he said.

The Grimm file

Age: 44 (May 2, 1959).

Birthplace: Scottdale, Pa.

College: Pittsburgh.

Years in NFL: 23 (11 as player, 12 as coach).

Years with Steelers: 4.

Current position: Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach.

The lowdown: Considered one of the NFL's best line coaches. Although he has not held a coordinator's position--in fact, this was his first interview for a head coach's job--his coaching mentors include Joe Gibbs and Bill Cowher.

Playing career: The All-American center was selected in the third round of the 1981 draft by the Redskins. He helped the team to three Super Bowl championships. The four-time Pro Bowl selection was a first-team selection on 1980s all-decade team.

The Smith file

Age: 45 (May 8, 1958).

Birthplace: Big Sandy, Texas.

College: Tulsa.

Years in NFL: 8.

Years with Rams: 3.

Current position: St. Louis Rams assistant head coach-defensive coordinator.

The lowdown: Smith is considered one of the brightest defensive minds in the NFL. He came to the Rams after helping develop the swarming, hard-hitting defense of Tampa Bay.

Playing career: Smith was a three-time all-state high school linebacker and two-time all-state end as Big Sandy won three consecutive state titles. He was a two-time All-American and three-time all-Missouri Conference defensive back at Tulsa.

Bears coaching search

When George Halas hired Mike Ditka, it started with a letter from Ditka asking for the job and was done over a kitchen table. When Michael McCaskey hired Dave Wannstedt, McCaskey identified him as the No. 1 candidate and just went and got him. But the exercises of hiring Dick Jauron in 1999 and finding his successor in 2004 have been decidedly less direct.

1999

Whose call: McCaskey is de facto general manager with hands-on authority to hire the head coach, as he did in 1993 with Wannstedt. Personnel Vice President Mark Hatley is relegated to finding candidates.

Search process: Screening interviews and meetings are conducted by Hatley, who spends three weeks on the road, preparing an initial list.

Finalists' interviews: Five Finalists selected by Hatley are brought to Halas Hall to meet with McCaskey and the media: Jauron, Gunther Cunningham, Sherman Lewis, Dave McGinnis and Joe Pendry. McCaskey attends only the last press conference, McGinnis', and the job is clearly McGinnis' if he wants it.

Collapses: McGinnis (below) agrees to a four-year deal, but talks collapse abruptly when McCaskey demands a buyout after two years and wants McGinnis to keep that information from potential assistants.

Hirings: Jauron is hired as a compromise between McCaskey's choice, Lewis, and Hatley's favorite, Pendry. Deal is done Jan. 24.

Fallout: McCaskey is "demoted up" to chairman, Phillips becomes president, Hatley eventually leaves and Angelo is brought in as GM.

2004

Whose call: General manager Jerry Angelo has the authority to fire Jauron and the power over hiring Jauron's replacement, subject to formal approval by team President Ted Phillips and the Bears' board.

Finalists' interviews: First interviews are held with Romeo Crennel, Lovie Smith and Jeff Tedford. Then the job is offered to Nick Saban on Jan. 9 in Louisiana. Smith and Russ Grimm are curiously identified as "first two finalists" even after Saban and Tedford's rejections.

Collapses: Saban (below) spurns the Bears' offer over money and control, sparking questions of how Saban reached that point with old friend Angelo. Tedford rejects a second interview in Chicago, at which a job offer would have been expected.

Hirings: Upcoming, likely before Jan. 24.

Fallout: To be determined. How much if any long-term damage will be done to Angelo within the power structure, which dislikes being embarrassed?